Membership

 

A ‘member in good standing’ is someone 16 years and older, who has been baptized and who has taken communion three times during the last calendar year and who contributes to the ministry of the church (money, time, skills and/or talents).  This is a fairly broad definition.  If you do these things, then you are invited to call yourself a member of St. Luke’s.  The next step would be to sign a church registry declaring yourself a member; the registry is in the church office and is also out for all at the Annual Meeting (typically held in late January or early February each year).

 

Those who come here after having been a member in another Episcopal parish can ask the church office to send a letter of transfer request  to your previous parish.

 

The next step to belonging would be to present yourself before a bishop at the appointed time, after a time of preparation, most often Inquirers’ Class, to be confirmed or received.  If you have made an adult affirmation of faith in another denomination, that affirmation is respected, and the bishop will receive you into the Episcopal Church.  If you have not yet been confirmed or otherwise made an adult affirmation of faith then you will be confirmed.  Both actions involve a prayer that the bishop will say while laying hands on your head.

 

Confirmation of both youth and adults usually happens in the spring after monthly classes and activities. Please contact the clergy for more information.

 

At least two reasons exist for people to become Episcopalians.  First, for spiritual growth and self-identification.  The Episcopal Church belongs to the wider Anglican Communion, and there is a history, spirituality and ethos distinct from other Christian denominations.  People seeking reception or confirmation affirm the traditions and spirituality in a public adoption and ownership of the faith.

 

Second, some limited office holdings – Senior or Junior Warden, representative to Diocesan Convention – as well as discernment of a call to holy orders and ordination – all require a formal joining of the wider church.

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For more information, please contact our Church Office.